Hindu temple demolished by Muslim Malaysian Authorities
ACV/KeralaOnline ^ | Apr 22, 2006

Posted on 04/22/2006 12:47:58 PM PDT

Kuala Lumpur. As hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees cried and even begged to stop, the Malaysian Authorities demolished a Hindu temple dedicated to Devi on Tuesday.The temple was more than hundred years old. According to reports, the Hindu devotees including the priests were forced to stop the prayers when the Malaysian Authorities brutally began to demolish the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman Temple, situated in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, using bulldozers accompanied by police. Everybody was crying saying that how could a government do this brutality to a peace loving community.

Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, though the society is multi-religious. According to the government census, only 60.4 percent of the population are Muslims. Although the Malaysian constitution theoretically guarantees religious freedom, in practice the situation is not so simple. Government in general supports Islamic religious establishment and it is the official policy to "infuse Islamic values" into the administration of the country.

In Malaysia, Non-Muslims, especially Hindus often experience restrictions in activities such as construction of religious buildings. Approximately nine percent of the population of Malaysia are Hindus of Indian origin. Majority of them are Tamil speaking Hindus of Indian origin. Punjabis, Malayalis and Telugus are the other people of Indian origin who follow Hindu religion in Malaysia. The Hindu population in Malaysia often face so much discriminated by the authorities. The latest incident of such discrimination seems to be the demolition of a Hindu temple situated in the heart of Malaysian Capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The Chinese population who practice Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism form another minority group in Malaysia. They are also often discriminated like the Hindus by the Malaysian society.